The present invention relates generally to an information distribution system and method, and, more particularly, to a system and method for distributing xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d a plurality of substantially fixed information assets to a plurality of different users substantially simultaneously.
There is a growing need to provide distribution of electronically stored information to a variety of different users simultaneously and xe2x80x9con demand.xe2x80x9d Traditionally, electronically stored information could be utilized by individuals by obtaining a copy of the information stored on a fixed medium, such as an audiotape, videotape, floppy disk or CD ROM, and viewing or playing the information with an associated device, such as a tape player, VCR, CD player or, once loaded onto a computer system hard drive, the computer system.
With the massive information content presently available and with rapidly growing content development, such a physical distribution system is no longer feasible. Moreover, in particular environments, it is also not desirable. For example, in-room movies at hotels are a source of additional income for the hotel and an expected convenience for hotel guests. Instead of accommodating each room with separate video players and managing the physical distribution of videocassettes, some hotels have established a network whereby a bank of video players may continuously play a predetermined set of videocassettes and several guests may simultaneously view the same video.
This, however, is not a true xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d system because guests must join in viewing a video at the particular segment in which it is currently playing. Furthermore, providing a plurality of separate video playersxe2x80x94one for each different video selectionxe2x80x94is a cumbersome, costly and technologically inefficient system, requiring frequent and costly maintenance as well as substantial human intervention.
Various information distribution systems have been proposed, but such systems are based upon conventional architectural concepts and suffer from limitations that prevent them from effectively delivering a plurality of different information assets substantially simultaneously.
One such prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,455 to Hooper et al., assigned to Digital Equipment Corporation. As can be seen from FIG. 2, that system is based upon a conventional computer and workstation architecture where shared control and data buses are provided between the various elements of the system. While such an architecture may be beneficial for typical data processing tasks, it does not effectively perform an information-on-demand information distribution function. The shared data and control buses quickly limit and degrade information distribution performance, and moreover, such a system requires complex data buffering schemes.
Another prior art system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,405 to DuLac et al. While the DuLac patent discloses an architecture that differs from that used in a conventional computer system or workstation, it suffers from similar limitations and deficiencies that will preclude the system from effectively performing as an information-on-demand system. The DuLac et al. system proposes fiber channel cables that deliver video data by computer technology to a conversion unit that converts the video data to ATM telephony technology for transmission to a network. The conventional computer technology associated with the video storage devices will result in a bottleneck that will substantially limit the performance of the system for delivering multiple simultaneous information streams. For example, FIG. 1 teaches using a large number of storage devices, all of which supply data to a multi-port switch through a single data path connection. This arrangement will require complex sharing of a single communication channel among many different storage devices, resulting in a bottleneck and similar problems characteristic of the deficiencies and limitations encountered in bus-based systems.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies and limitations of such prior art systems by providing a unique architecture that is particularly beneficial for performing information-on-demand distribution of information assets. One of the advantages of the present invention is realized by the use of a circuit switching technique for the transfer of information between various elements of the system. Since the information transfer technique is substantially consistent throughout the system, complex and burdensome data conversion is not necessary. This feature also facilitates convenient information asset transfer from mass storage devices to requesting users or to other mass storage devices, and also facilitates the system receiving new information assets for storage on mass storage devices.
Another advantage of the present invention is realized by providing a plurality of communication channels to accommodate a transfer of data between a plurality of mass storage devices. Such a plurality of communication channels eliminates the communication channel bottleneck and contention deficiencies of prior art systems.
Another advantage of the present invention is realized by providing a centralized control unit that receives requests from users for various information assets. Such a centralized control feature allows the system to reorder the requests into a sequence that will allow much greater efficiency of reading information asset information from any particular mass storage device. Such a feature is possible because the centralized control unit contains information relating to which mass storage device or devices contain the requested information asset and where that information asset is located on the mass storage device. Additional advantages are also realized through such a centralized control unit, such as allowing the system to monitor information asset usage, mass storage device usage and performance, as well as a great number of other features relating to housekeeping and system maintenance.
Another advantage of the present invention is that, while the information asset requests are centrally managed, the information asset information does not flow through the central control unit. Instead, information asset information is transmitted directly from mass storage devices through a switch and to the appropriate destinationxe2x80x94without the need for conversion to a different data format. In other words, the same data transmission format and protocol is used substantially throughout the system to facilitate extremely efficient transfer of a plurality of different information assets at high speed and high volume and substantially simultaneously.